Auf Room40 erscheint in Kürze eine gemeinsame Arbeit von David Toop, Akio Suzuki und Lawrence English unter dem Titel “Breathing Spirit Forms”. Das auf dem Album verwendete Material entstand bereits 2013, als Toop und Suzuki den im australischen Queensland liegenden Tamborine Mountain – ein anglifizierter Ortsname basierend auf dem der Yugambeh-Sprache entstammenden Wort Jambreen – besuchten. Gemeinsam mit dem aus der Region stammenden Lawrence English wurde die plateauartige Umgebung mit Flöten, Radiowellen, elektronischen Instrumenten und allerlei umfunktionierten Objekten bespielt – der Ort selbst beteiligte sich mit dem Gesang der Vögel, dem Zirpen der Insekten, dem Rauschen der Gewässer und den klanglichen Gegebenheiten. jahre später wurde das Material von English neu gesichtet und in die Form des vorliegenden Albums gebracht. Es erscheint Anfang September als CD mit Buch.

“I am ceaselessly fascinated by how memory operates and, I’m regularly struck by how individually subjective a collective experience can be when recalled by its participants. Lynch’s Lost Highway comes to mind here, specifically Bill Pullman’s character Fred Madison who says “I like to remember things my own way. How I remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened.” Like Madison, I can’t help but sense that memory takes shape through an accumulative process that reflects how each of us have lived (and maybe even wanted to live) up to that point in time. Going back to listen again to these recordings of which I was a part with David and Akio, I was surprised by what elements had stayed with me and what others had slipped into the eternal greying of my mind. I have vivid recollections of listening to a Lyre bird before recording the pieces together at Witches Falls. I remember both Akio and David finding musicality in decaying palm fronds. I remember Akio’s voice, amplified through his Analpos, bouncing off the stones and trees. I remember David’s flute, so quiet in the pitch black of the night forest as to appear like a hushed tone of wind or a distant animal calling. I also remember trying to match my modest hand held electronics with the pulsing and pitching of the insects around me.

Reading David’s text, which is included in the book published alongside this edition, he recounts several things I had forgotten. Conversations about memory, ironically enough, had vanished from my mind until reading his words. I also didn’t really remember my role as tick surgeon, removing a living insect from David’s ear. I do remember his cooking though, as does Akio (captured aptly in his drawings), no doubt a testament to David’s improvisational culinary expertise. Breathing Spirit Forms represents a distinctive exchange between friends and collaborators. Tamborine commands a special presence and encourages a deep patience from those who are willing to give time to its varied environments. For the three of us, we were fortunate to share these moments together, fleeting in our lives as they might be, to sense the mountain’s unique qualities, to respond to them through our exchanges and to form memories (as disparate as they might be) we carry forward with us in time.” (Lawrence English)